Open-Angle Glaucoma Linked to Erectile Dysfunction

(HealthDay News) – Men with erectile dysfunction (ED) are almost three times more likely to have been previously diagnosed with glaucoma, according to a study published in the February issue of Ophthalmology.

Noting that both open-angle glaucoma and ED are associated with metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, Shiu-Dong Chung, MD, from Taipei Medical University in Taiwan, and colleagues examined whether ED was associated with glaucoma in 4,605 men with ED and 23,025 control subjects.

The researchers found that 1.1% of men with ED had been diagnosed with glaucoma, compared with only 0.4% of control subjects. After adjusting for potential confounders, the odds ratio of having a prior glaucoma diagnosis was 2.85 for men with ED.

"In this study, after adjusting for confounding factors, we found that ED patients had a 2.85-fold greater risk of prior open-angle glaucoma diagnosis than controls," Chung and colleagues conclude. "To our knowledge, this is the first study to document the association between ED and open-angle glaucoma based on a population-based dataset."